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Race report

Spa F2: De Vries dominates feature race

Nyck de Vries scored a dominant Formula 2 victory at Spa-Francorchamps, while points leader George Russell headed main title rival Lando Norris.

Nyck De Vries, PREMA Racing.

Nyck De Vries, PREMA Racing.

FIA Formula 2

McLaren Formula 1 junior de Vries only surrendered the lead in the pitstop phase, and despite a late safety car for Nirei Fukuzumi’s on-fire Arden-run car on lap 15 of 25, the Dutchman's win never looked in doubt.

Sergio Sette Camara passed Russell – who had heavy wheelspin at the start – at Turn 1 on lap one, although he couldn’t live with de Vries’ pace in the first stint, as the Prema driver extended his lead to over seven seconds.

After the safety car interruption, the green flag came out on lap 19 of 25, and de Vries remained comfortable ahead of Sette Camara as he secured victory by 3.1s

For Sette Camara's teammate Norris, the key to his race was a robust defence of his fourth place at the start, the Briton going into Les Combes three-wide with Luca Ghiotto and Alexander Albon, keeping the inside line and holding the spot.

Norris then got alongside third-placed Russell at the safety car restart late-on at Les Combes, but Russell defended well and checked out as a resurgent Alexander Albon came at Norris.

Third in the championship, Albon, had been as low as 14th but the safety car worked out in his favour and his car came alive in the closing laps.

On the final tour, he dive-bombed Norris, but ran into the run-off at Les Combes and his chance was gone, forcing him to settle for fifth.

Russell extends his championship lead to 15 points over Norris, with Albon and de Vries a further 20 and 26 points behind respectively.

Luca Ghiotto produced some brilliant defensive driving, but couldn’t hold off a charging Artem Markelov, who beat the Italian to the line on the last lap by less than a tenth in the fight for sixth.

Nicholas Latifi also ran the same strategy as Markelov, and took eighth, ahead of the second Arden of Maxi Gunther and Roy Nissany’s Campos-run car, the Israeli driver scoring his first point of the season.

Antonio Fuoco and Louis Deletraz, Charouz Racing teammates, crashed into each other and ultimately rounded out the order.

Race results

Cla # Driver Team Laps Time Gap
1 4 Netherlands Nyck de Vries Italy Prema Powerteam 25 56'02.281  
2 18 brazilSergio Sette Camara United Kingdom Carlin 25 56'05.434 3.153
3 8 United Kingdom George Russell France ART Grand Prix 25 56'09.853 7.572
4 19 United Kingdom Lando Norris United Kingdom Carlin 25 56'11.187 8.906
5 5 Thailand Alexander Albon France DAMS 25 56'11.689 9.408
6 1 Russian Federation Artem Markelov Russian Federation RUSSIAN TIME 25 56'15.462 13.181
7 14 Italy Luca Ghiotto Spain Campos Racing 25 56'15.492 13.211
8 6 Canada Nicholas Latifi France DAMS 25 56'16.955 14.674
9 11 germanyMaximilian Gunther United Kingdom Arden International 25 56'18.196 15.915
10 15 Israel Roy Nissany Spain Campos Racing 25 56'24.635 22.354
11 7 United Kingdom Jack Aitken France ART Grand Prix 25 56'26.198 23.917
12 2 JapanTadasuke Makino Russian Federation RUSSIAN TIME 25 56'26.758 24.477
13 17 Italy Alessio Lorandi Italy Trident 25 56'28.698 26.417
14 16 India Arjun Maini Italy Trident 25 56'31.201 28.920
15 9 France Dorian Boccolacci Netherlands MP Motorsport 25 56'31.893 29.612
16 3 Indonesia Sean Gelael Italy Prema Powerteam 25 56'34.763 32.482
17 21 Italy Antonio Fuoco czech_republicCharouz Racing System 25 56'34.987 32.706
18 20 Switzerland Louis Deletraz czech_republicCharouz Racing System 25 56'36.393 34.112
  10 Switzerland Ralph Boschung Netherlands MP Motorsport 18 41'55.881 7 Laps
  12 Japan Nirei Fukuzumi United Kingdom Arden International 13 27'36.818 12 Laps

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